Title Waitrose plastic bags scrapped

Waitrose will initially remove the bags from six shops from 8 October before expanding the initiative across its store estate later in the year. 

Waitrose is removing single-use plastic bags from its stores as part of its ongoing sustainability efforts.

The upmarket grocer, which underwent rebranding to Waitrose & Partners alongside John Lewis last week, is taking the step to scrap 5p single-use plastic bags with a view to saving 500 tonnes of plastic a year.

It will initially remove the 5p carrier bags from six shops from 8 October to gain understanding of how to manage the changeover, before expanding the initiative across its store estate later in the year. The bags will be completely removed from Waitrose stores by March 2019. It confirmed it would still sell its reusable plastic bags for 10p after single-use versions had been removed.

The retailer is also scrapping single-use plastic bags for fresh fruit & veg, replacing them with new home compostable versions by spring next year. This will be initially conducted on a trial basis at a “small number” of branches from a date yet to be confirmed. By spring 2019, all 348 Waitrose shops’ plastic produce bags will have been replaced.

Waitrose said the material of the new reusable shopping bags would break down in landfill if put in regular bins, and could be placed in food waste caddies or home composted.

Read more: Government fund launched for companies reducing plastic waste

Both these steps are taking place as part of Waitrose’s promise to make all its own brand packaging widely recyclable, reusable, or home compostable by 2025.

“The removal of these bags will change the way our customers, many of whom have been asking us to do this, shop with us in the future,” said Waitrose head of CSR for health and agriculture Tor Harris. “We know we still have a lot to do, but as with our commitment to removing takeaway disposable cups earlier this year, this represents another major step forward in reducing our use of plastics.”

These steps come in addition to Waitrose’s other sustainability moves, which include removing single-use disposable coffee cups from all stores, and launching the first own-brand compostable coffee pod from a major retailer in December 2018. It has also pledged not to sell any own label food in black plastic beyond 2019.

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